1. Field
The present application relates to the production of agricultural products. More specifically, the present application relates to harvesting an agricultural product from a field that allows for later identification of a specific section of the field where the harvesting occurred.
2. Related Art
Modern agricultural production involves the growing of crops in many different locations for subsequent distribution throughout the United States and the world. Because of the complexity of the production and distribution channels and the difficulty in labeling agricultural products, it has been difficult to track the exact movement of a particular crop harvest through the agricultural production system.
Recent incidents of food-borne illnesses caused by contaminated produce have highlighted the need for an effective system to track the production and distribution of agricultural products. In recent outbreaks of produce-carried food-borne illnesses, it was not possible to determine exactly where the contaminated crop was produced. This lack of ability to pinpoint the exact location of the production of contaminated produce has created difficulties in improving the safety of agricultural products.
In addition to food safety issues, producers of agricultural products would benefit from improvements in systems to monitor the production of agricultural goods, in order to increase the overall quality of agricultural goods. By increasing the amount of information available to producers regarding crop production, crop producers can more effectively improve agricultural production methods.